Deep Photos Explorer overview

Browse, view, tag and search your photo libraries — all locally, directly from your web browser.

Local-first photo management

Deep Photos Explorer (DPE) is a fast, private, all-in-one photo browser and viewer running directly on your local drives. It reads your images from existing folders without importing or reorganizing anything, and works through a lightweight local server such as XAMPP or LAMP.

DPE centralizes your photo experience: clean galleries, fullscreen viewing, EXIF details, tagging tools, favorites, and powerful search — all without cloud services, without external dependencies, and without altering your files.

Main Features

📁 Photo Library Explorer

Clean gallery layout with automatic landscape/portrait sorting
Real-time thumbnail generation (no cached thumbnails)
Adjustable thumbnail size with instant resizing
Sorting options (ascending/descending)
Built-in pagination for large folders
Visual indicators for tags and favorites
Optional automatic renaming per folder: [date]-[camera]-[photo_id]
Folder-level metadata: camera models and tags

🖼️ Fullscreen Photo Viewer

Instant display with real-time viewport resizing
True fullscreen mode
Full-resolution zoom with keyboard navigation
Keyboard/mouse navigation between photos
Side information panel (filename, date, resolution, EXIF)
Add tags and favorites directly from the viewer

🏷️ Tagging & Favorites Tools

Add tags from gallery or viewer
Rectangular multi-selection mode for tagging multiple photos
Favorites marking from gallery or viewer
Full tag management: add, edit, remove
Tag-based search with multi-tag support (AND logic)
Search globally or from the current folder
Optional “favorites only” filter

⚡ Advanced Architecture

Fully local: no cloud, no Internet required
No moved files, no reorganization, no alteration
Local database storage with backup capability
Multi-library support across multiple drives
Multi-instance support (e.g., photos.localhost)
Multi-language support (English & French included)
Automatic language detection
Optional authentication module
Optional protected web mode for remote access
Works in any modern browser (Firefox, Chrome, Edge)
Designed for large archives: tens of thousands of photos

Why Deep Photos Explorer?

Local-first, privacy-first Your photos stay on your computer. No cloud, no upload.
Zero reorganization DPE reads your folders exactly as they exist on disk.
Fast and lightweight Instant galleries, instant viewer, instant search.
Perfect for large collections Handles tens of thousands of photos.
Ideal for photographers & creators Tagging, favorites, EXIF, multi-selection, renaming.

How It Works

DPE runs locally in your web browser and manages one or multiple Photo Spaces.

Each Photo Space requires:

An Apache VirtualHost (or equivalent)
A MySQL/MariaDB database
The __DPE_CORE folder + index.php placed at the root of your photo directory

Your photos are served in real time through a local server using addresses such as:

http://photos.localhost — http://personal.localhost — http://pro.localhost

DPE does not move or modify your files. Everything is generated on demand.

Installation

Windows

Install XAMPP (Apache + PHP + MariaDB)
Simply run the DPE Windows installer (Easy and Premium version)
Access your Photo Space via your browser

Linux

Install Apache2, PHP, and MariaDB
Follow the installation guide in __DPE_CORE/_docs/en
Configure your VirtualHost

Editions

🚀 Easy Windows Edition

Automatic configuration of Apache, PHP, MariaDB. Advanced support included.

📸 Regular Edition

Standard Windows installer with basic support.

⭐ Premium Edition

Priority support and guidance for Windows or Linux.

Available on: dpe-home.netvador.fr

FAQ

Does DPE modify my photos? No, files remain untouched.
Do I need Internet? No, DPE is fully local.
Can I manage multiple libraries? Yes, via multiple Photo Spaces.
Does DPE support large archives? Yes, tens of thousands of photos.
Is there a web mode? Yes, optional protected mode.
Is DPE available in French? Yes, English and French included.